Ilex

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Instinctively, he turned south and flew towards the Ashfall Waste, led by an ancient urge he couldn't resist. But harsh winds carried the young adventurer much further than anticipated until eventually he arrived in the Icewarden's domain. The cold was unpleasant, to say the least. Nevertheless he met another traveller there, a Skydancer looking to find inspiration for his writing. He gave Traveller a small book and some ink, then encouraged him to write down his adventures.

"Who knows? Maybe someday, you'll need a good story."


Traveler had a brief stay in the Everbloom Gardens, the lush greenery of Nature's domain an exciting change from the frosty domain he had just left. After a short while, however, he set off again, travelling with Peridot, a heart-weary Tundra in need of the companionship of the young Coatl. As Traveler set off with his new friend, he wondered where his next adventure would lead...


Peridot and Traveler found their way south, braving the icy chill that dominates the Icewarden's domain. They stayed in a few small towns on their trip to the southernmost point of the icy island, and eventually found themselves in Port Kaslarec.

The dragons there welcomed them with happiness, and the magic that they possessed kept the port-side town warm even in the thick of a blizzard. With great interest, the two friends learned of the city just to the east, past the gorge, called Rekhanci. Port Kaslarec was under the kingdom's domain, and it was there dragons often traveled after arriving in the sea town.

Eager to see the magic-full city and explore, the two friends crossed the gorge and entered the city. There, they sampled the many treats the city had to offer, stopping to witness the beautiful gardens the kingdom's greatest magicians had brought to life. They flourished even in the eternal winter of the Icefields, kept safe in the warm magical bubble that surrounded the city.

Feeling content with their exploration, Peridot and Traveler decided to continue on their adventures to other lands. (Although leaving the warm city was a challenge.)


Volrin
"So you're a traveller... NAMED Traveller? For real? The first time you told me that, I just thought it was some kind of weird joke. My clan has never actually met a Coatl with a sense of humor before, so I guess I just kind of assumed it was something with your type."

"Hah, nah. My parents were just really on-the-nose when they named me. Everybody in my home lair could tell I wasn't gonna be held down in one place long, even since I was a little kid. Nobody could ever get me to sit still."

It had been about a month since Traveller had come to the Sunbeam Ruins and found the newest clan to house him -- The Purified Temple, a huge marble structure on the outskirts of the Hewn City -- and he had developed quite a friendship with Hollyfin, one of the clan's leaders alonside their mother. The two young dragons hung out together at the Trading Post a lot, Holly's favourite place due to their obsession with gambling at the raffle roulette, but today they had just decided to lounge around out in the sun.

Holly went quiet for a time, mulling about this new revelation of the Coatl's true name in their head. Finally, they spoke again. "Ya know, if it were me, I don't think I would be okay with that," they said flatly, "being named after the thing you do seems so... impersonal. What if you decide you wanna stop travelling someday? Now your name doesn't mean anything!"

Traveller hummed in agreement. "I suppose you have a point."

Hollyfin rolled over to look at their Coatl friend then, their face expressionless but somehow, simultaneously hardened with resolve. "So why don't you give yourself a new name?"

"I can do that?"

"Sure, sure. Plenty of dragons have done it before."

The Coatl strained his face a little bit, furrowed his brows deep in thought. He soon relaxed again, looking up at the sky a little hopelessly. "I dunno man, I don't think anything I could come up with would feel quite right. It's my name, y'know? It'd be changing a fundamental part of myself... I don't think I can do it."

The Fae pondered for a moment. Finally, something clicked in Holly's head, and they snapped their claw to declare the realization. "Then let me do it for you!" They flattened down their head frills then, a little bashfully. "If you're alright with it, that is."

The Coatl laughed, and snickered a bit at his Fae friend's enthusiasm. "Sure thing. Shoot."

"Ilex," they announced the name proudly. "You seem like an Ilex to me."

...Ilex, huh? The Coatl pondered the name for a moment... it seemed like it clicked into place perfectly with his identity. Ilex nodded in approval. "Yeah, Ilex. I like it."

...

A few weeks later, Ilex was adjusting nicely to his new name. Hearing dragons use it to refer to him -- and saying it himself -- just felt so natural. It was perfect. He bid a fond farewell to Holly and their ckan, but with a promise that should he ever end up in the area again, he'd come back to stay.


(This started off as just a little blurb so I could rename this guy, since the name Traveler seemed pretty on the nose for... you know... a traveller. But now I am SUPER invested in the friendship between him and Holly, and if Ilex ends up in my lair again I'll probably wanna keep him!)


KingVulture
Ilex arrived at the border of the Scarred Wasteland and Tangled Wood next, meeting the various dragons in the clan. He found that several of them were former travelling dragons themselves, and some of them were current travellers. Ilex spent much of the time sharing some stories about his travels, and listening to stories that the others had. The former travelling dragons shared their reasons for coming back to Crow Callers, and it reminded Ilex of how he planned to stay in the last clan he went to.

Ilex quickly felt like he was staying in the same place for too long, and later decided to leave.

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